Top Gear America’s New Trailer Hints At Some Wonky Adventures To Come

An all-new cast of hosts should provide plenty of promise for the show

Top Gear USA, the show that somehow ran for six seasons without enough people caring about it, is gone. Not a lot of people noticed, though, because the show really wasn’t all that good. But give credit where it’s due, because if for nothing else, the BBC has shown itself yet again to be one that doesn’t give up too quickly. And so, here we are, a full month away from the debut of Top Gear America, and from the looks of things, it’s already promising loads of potential.

Gone are Tanner Foust, Adam Ferrara, and Rutledge Wood. In their place comes actor and gear head William Fichtner, champion drag racer Antron Brown, and Top Gear Magazine contributing editor Tom “Wookie” Ford. A case can be made that the new hosting trio fits more into the core vibe of Top Gear, but to be fair, it’s a little too early to start riding on their coattails. That said, the new 30-second trailer of the show looks intriguing, to say the least. We get to see plenty of supercars in action. We get to see Fichtner in a BAC Mono ordering some fast food, Ford taking the Acura NSX for a run, and Brown going face-to-face with The Stig, who we presume is the nephew of Top Gear USA’s Stig. The show debuts on Sunday, July 30 at 8 P.M. on BBC America. Circle the date, folks. Top Gear America is coming, and it looks mighty promising.

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Expectations are high that this version finally lives up to the Top Gear name

I know we’ve been down this road before. For all of its shortcomings, Top Gear USA did have its moments. That much I’ll admit it. It’s main issue, though, was that it tried a little too hard to capture the chemistry that came to define the era of Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond. It’s a formula that has worked for those three for years and the trio of Foust, Ferrara, and Wood either didn’t have it or it just didn’t show on screen. There’s no denying that they knew their cars; they just weren’t funny.

There’s no guarantee that William Fichtner, Antron Brown, and Tom Ford will have better chemistry, but the composition is a lot better this time. Fichtner may not be the most celebrated actor who also happens to be a gearhead in Hollywood, but he’s a known commodity who people will immediately recognize. Ford is also a big deal as a host because he’s done it in the past with Fifth Gear and he has that British charm in him that was largely tied to the success of the old Top Gear. Plus, he has history with the magazine version of the show, so he should have an idea on what the ticks that made the show successful in the U.K. Brown is the wild card among the trio because he’s not as well-known as his two co-hosts. He does have some pedigree as a drag car racer, so he’s know-how in that regard should prove to be useful for the upcoming show.

The hype has arrived, ladies and gentlemen. Top Gear America is coming in a month. Let’s hope that the new version of the show will finally be the one that successfully captures the interest of the American viewing audience.